ArtYard Presents Staged Reading Of WHITTER By Tylie Shider

ArtYard will present a staged reading of Whittier by Tylie Shider, the inaugural playwright in its residency program. The event will take place on Saturday, May 21 at 4 p.m. in the nonprofit art center's newly opened McDonnell Theater. An artist talk and audience Q&A will follow the reading.

Whittier is a multimedia docudrama that follows a diverse community of neighbors quarantined in Whittier, Minneapolis, days after the murder of George Floyd. Directed by Andrew Binger, Whittier is inspired by the Minneapolis-based graffiti, lawn signs, and murals created in protest of George Floyd's murder. The piece is adapted from focus groups, interviews, and small talks Shider conducted with neighbors, small business owners, and community leaders of faith during the 2020 uprisings in his neighborhood.

Shider, a playwright, poet, and journalist who was born and raised in New Jersey and lives in Minneapolis, is a two-time recipient of the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights' Center and an I Am Soul playwright in residence at the National Black Theatre.

Shider also created the documentary Sign O' The Times to accompany the stage component. It is a recent Official Selection for the 2022 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, and will also be on view at ArtYard prior to the reading.

At the reading, the actors will showcase the development of the play with early choreography, lighting, and multimedia in place. The goal is for the playwright to hear the written play spoken out loud in front of an audience to understand how their intentions are received so they can make edits if needed.

ArtYard Theatre Curator Deonté Griffin-Quick will lead an artist talk and audience Q&A with Shider and Binger after the reading. The event is free of charge.

ArtYard's McDonnell Theater is the heart of its new building at 13 Front St., a welcoming communal resource and vessel channeling the power of art to unsettle, engage, bridge divides, and spark unexpected moments of arresting beauty. The 162-seat theater has state-of-the-art projection, lighting, and surround sound and will be the site of music, film screenings, dance, theatre, artist talks, and more.

About the artists

Playwright and journalist Tylie Shider is a two-time recipient of the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights' Center (PWC) and an I Am Soul playwright in residence at the National Black Theatre (NBT). His recent plays include Labor (The Theater Project), Whittier (PWC) and THE GOSPEL WOMAN (NBT). He holds a BA in Journalism from Delaware State University and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU. A proud member of the Dramatist Guild, he is currently a professor of playwriting at Augsburg University, and a staff writer for Minnesota Playlist.

Andrew Binger is an actor, director, arts administrator and educator from Newark, NJ. Andrew is the Artistic Director of Yendor Theatre Company (YTC) after co-founding the organization with his mentor Rodney Gilbert. YTC is dedicated to developing, producing and celebrating works by Black and Brown writers. As artistic director, Andrew launched YTC's Summer TheatreInitiative, designed to bring theatre directly into the neighborhoods of Newark. He directed the inaugural production, If I Could, In My Hood, I Would... by David Lee White, with productions at the Newark Riverfront, Lincoln Park & The Soundstage at Clinton Avenue.

ArtYard is an incubator for creative expression and a catalyst for collaborations that reveal the transformational power of art. We are an interdisciplinary alternative contemporary art center comprised of an exhibition space, theater, and residency program, dedicated to presenting transformative artwork, fostering unexpected collaborations, and incubating original new work.

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